Hair curler



April 15, 1969 N. L. SOLOMON 3,438,382

' HAIR CURLER Filed May 1:5, 1968 /& 20 6 22 241 T. 2 /0 /a a 25INIVENTOR. NATHAN L.SOLOMON BY HM c ATTORNEY United States Patent US.Cl. 132-39 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A hair curler havingcylindrical strips of material containing radially extending resilienthair gripping bristles mounted about a hollow curler body adjacentopposite ends and securely held in position without requiring stitchingby passing the ends of the strips through slots interiorly into thecurler body.

This invention relates to improvements in hair dressing devices, andmore particularly, to an improved hair curler designed and constructedto securely hold a rolled tress of hair in position on the head of theuser.

Hair curling as practiced today in the home and professional beautyshops involves division of the hair of the user into various tresses orswatches. Each of these tresses is evenly wound on a hair curler and bydampening the curled tress with water or chemicals, or by application ofheat or the like, the tress is caused to take the form imparted to thehair by the curler. As is well known in the art, during the hair wavingtreatment, the hair filaments elongate when dampened with water orwaving lotions and contract during drying. If a curler does not embodyadequate means for compensating for the elongations and contractions ofthe hair filament during the curling process, the hair tress woundthereon frequently becomes loosened and the individual hair filamentsbecome displaced and take the curl form existing under the loosened ordisplaced condition, which'does not produce the optimum curl.

Also, a satisfactory curler should not provide stress concentrationswith respect to the hair filaments. Often, after hair waving lotion hasbeen applied to the tress of hair, the individual filaments becomebrittle and are usually broken or harmed by any application of a stressconcentration. Curlers in widespread use today generally requireseparate retaining devices to hold a curler in position on the head ofthe user, suchas a clip or bobby pin or a band or arm, whichinterconnect the ends of the cylindrical roller and extend over andengage the hair rolled thereon. The bobby pin is the most common hairretainer used, but is difficult to use by the self-user, and alsoapplies stress concentrations to the filaments of the hair.

Attempts to overcome these objections have been many and varied. Curlershaving strips of material containing hair gripping strands or bristleshave been used, which effectively hold and retain the tress of hair onthe curler, but these are expensive to fabricate and to manufacture,hence the cost is relatively high. Also, attaching the strips tightlyabout a relatively rigid roller body has been difficult to achieveconsistently. Sewing often fails to make a tight, durable seam andcreate an uneven surface with an overlapped seam. Adhesives often failduring use with waving solutions.

The present invention contemplates a novel hair curler particularlydesigned and constructed to provide a twofold purpose. The curler isprovided with a relatively rigid, but yielding hair winding core,whereby an efiicient curling operation of the hair may be accomplished,while permitting ready drying of the wet tress of hair. At the same timewhen the tress of hair is wound on the curler, it is easily retained onthe head of the user by merely .ICC

pushing it against the scalp, whereby yielding bristles on opposite endsof the curler grasp the hair on the scalp and hold the rolled tress ofhair securely in position. The curler body has slits which securelyretain ends of cylindrical strips of material containing the yieldingbristles on opposite ends of the curler body tightly in position on thebody.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a haircurler on which the hair may be easily rolled on the head of the userand which can be securely retained in rolled position without employingseparate external fastening devices.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved haircurler designed and constructed for facilitating the dressing of onesown hair and having sufficient rigidity to ensure efiicient curling ofthe hair.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a haircurler body which can easily and quickly mount strips of materialcontaining hair holding bristles without stitching, and yet has an openmesh construction to allow free passage of air to the interior of thecurl.

Still another object is to provide a hair curler that accomplishes allof the above and yet is simple to use, inexpensive to fabricate, lightin weight, allows free evaporation of any moisture in the hair, and isdurable in use.

Further objects and features of the invention will be apparent when thefollowing description is considered in connection with the annexeddrawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of a hair curler embodying thepresent invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line 2-2 ofFIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view taken alongline 33 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view similar to FIGURE 3 andshowing a further modification; and

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary plan view of one end portion of thecurler showing a further embodiment of the present invention.

Referring now to the drawings, a hair curler 10 has a core member 12,which is of generally thin, tubular construction, made of plastic or thelike. Advantageously, the central portion 13 of core member 12, aboutwhich a tress of hair is wound, has an open mesh design to aid in dryingof the tress of hair, which is shown as rectangular grid work. Anyconvenient type of mesh construction can be used. Core member 12 has atopposite ends, cylindrical end portions 14 and 16, respectively. Endportion 14-is set off by a pair of annular ribs 18 and 20 and endportion 16 is similarly set off by a pair of ribs 22 and 24. Endportions 14 and 16 could have their peripheral surface solid or of meshconstruction. Extending between ribs 18 and 20 and transverse thereto,is a slot or opening 26. Slot 26 is of a predetermined thickness, whichwill be discussed hereafter. Disposed ciroumferentially about endportion 14 is a fabric or strip of material 28 provided with yieldablehair retaining elements, such as bristles or hooks 30, extendingoutwardly therefrom. While hooks and bowed pairs of cooperating bristles30 are shown, other hair retaining or hair gripping means may be used,such as crossed bristles. Strip 28 is of sufiicient length, so that theentire circumference of end portion M is covered and the ends of strip28 are forced downwardly through slot 26 into the interior of coremember 12, such as shown in FIGURE 3. Slot 26-has a width sufficient tofrictionally receive the ends of the strip 28, so that the doublethickness of material in slot 26 is securely held, and so retains strip28 tightlyabout the circumference of end portion 14 during use. Also,the hair engaging elements 30 on opposite ends of the strip engage eachother in slot 26 and cooperate to securely hold the ends of strip 28 inposition within slot 26, such as indicated in FIGURE 3 at 32.

A similar construction is shown for securely retaining strip 28 on endportion 16.

Advantageously, end portions 14 and 16 have a greater outer diameterthan the central portion 13 of curler 10. The enlarged ends facilitatethe handling of curler 10 during the Winding of the hair thereon, aswell as being used to positively engage the hair of the user when thecurler is in its rolled position, so as to hold the curler in operativeposition on the head of the user without requiring the use of externalfastening devices, such as clips or pins. To aid in initially holdingthe ends of a tress of hair to be curled, central portion 13 of curler10 has radially projecting hair gripping teeth 34, which also preventlateral slipping of hair along the inner core.

In use, a quantity of individual strands of hair in a swatch is spreadupon central portion 13 of curler 10 and curler 10 is rotated to windthe tress of hair. The user grips the end portions 14 and 16, and thestrips of fabric at 28 mounted on these end portions aid in positivelygripping the curler even if the hands of the user are wet and regardlessof the lubricating qualities of the hair lotion used. The tress of hairis Wound onto the roller device, preferably until the roller 10 is woundup tightly against the scalp of the user and then it is pressed againstthe head of the user, so that hair gripping elements 30 on strips offabric 28 grasp and engage the portions of the hair of the user on thescalp, thereby retaining the curler 10 in its operative position Withoutthe use of any external fastening device.

To provide a more positive locking of material 28 on curler body 12, asshown in FIGURE 4, one end 36 of fabric 28 is doubled over when forcedthrough opening 26. This prevents any accidental displacement of theends of the strips.

A further embodiment is shown in FIGURE 5, wherein openings 26 in rollerbody 12 have serrated edges 38, or a series of pointed teeth, whichpositively hold material 28 in locked position about the periphery ofend portions of 14 and 16. The serrated edges 38 positively holdmaterial 28 in position.

The degree of rigidity of core member 12 exerts continuous tension onthe strands forming the curl, and which automatically adjusts to thetension of the curl during its setting and drying process. The strips ofmaterial 28 do not adversely aifect this rigidity, and yet allow comfortto the user during the curling operation. Since, only the end portionshave material 2 8 about the peripheral surface, air is freely availableto the wet tress of hair to speed drying. Also, the roller is light andflexible.

The strips of material 28 are securely held in position without stickingor using adhesive heretofore used. While 4 ribs 18, 20 and 22, 24 wereshown aiding in positioning strips 28, they could be eliminated. Also,strips 28 could be molded with the hair engaging elements integrallyattached.

What I claim is:

1. A hair curler comprising a generally cylindrical core', said corehaving a central portion and two end portions, each of said end portionshaving a longitudinal slot in its outer peripheral surface, an outercovering disposed about the outer peripheral surface of said endportions, and a plurality of flexible, resilient hair retaining elementssecured to said coverings and extending substantially radiallytherefrom, the ends of said coverings being positioned inwardly throughthe corresponding slot securely retaining said covering tightly aboutthe peripheral surface of said end portions.

2. A hair curler in accordance with claim 1, wherein said covering is afabric and said bristles are filaments.

3. A hair curler in accordance with claim 1, wherein said end portionshave a greater outer diameter than the central portion.

4. A hair curler in accordance with claim 1, wherein each of said endportions are defined by a pair of spaced annular, radially outwardlyextending ribs.

5. A hair curler in accordance with claim 1, wherein one of the ends ofsaid covering is doubled over in said slot to tightly hold said coveringabout its end portion.

6. A hair curler in accordance with claim 1, wherein at least one edgeof the opening in said end portions is serrated to more tightly hold theends of said covering.

7. A hair curler in accordance with claim 1, wherein the edges of saidslots have a series of teeth for firmly engaging the covering about saidends.

8. A hair curler in accordance with claim 1, wherein said core istubular and the outer peripheral surface of the central portion has openmesh construction.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,316,920 5/1967 Cruise 132--39FOREIGN PATENTS 937,173 3/1964 France. 957,645 5/ 1964 Great Britain.723,433 12/1965 Canada.

LOUIS G. MANCENE, Primary Examiner.

JAMES W. MITCHELL, Assistant Examiner.

